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The Transition to Reaching: Mapping Intention and Intrinsic Dynamics.
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Thelen, Esther; And Others – Child Development, 1993
Weekly observations of 4 infants in a standard arm-extended reaching task demonstrated that the infants first reached at ages ranging from 12 to 22 weeks. Results suggest that the infant central nervous system does not contain programs that detail hand trajectory or muscle activation patterns; rather, these patterns are the consequence of the…
Descriptors: Eye Hand Coordination, Infants, Motor Development, Muscular System
The (Re)Discovery of Motor Development: Learning New Things from an Old Field.
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Thelen, Esther – Developmental Psychology, 1989
Discusses general developmental principles which have emerged from studies in motor development. (RJC)
Descriptors: Child Development, Infant Behavior, Literature Reviews, Motor Development
The Role of Target Distinctiveness in Infant Perseverative Reaching.
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Diedrich, Frederick J.; Highlands, Tonia M.; Spahr, Kimberly A.; Thelen, Esther; Smith, Linda B. – Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 2001
Evaluated in three experiments a dynamic systems theory account of perseverative errors on "A-not-B" task. Found that 9-month-olds perseverated when reaching for identical targets, but made nonperseverative responses when reaching in the presence of a highly distinctive B target. Reach direction was jointly determined by target's…
Descriptors: Cognitive Development, Cues, Error Patterns, Infant Behavior
Hidden Skills: A Dynamic Systems Analysis of Treadmill Stepping during the First Year.
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Thelen, Esther; Ulrich, Beverly D. – Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 1991
Studied the ontogeny of walking by prelocomotor infants. Results support a dynamic systems view of development and the view that upright locomotion emerges from the self-organization of multiple cooperating elements rather than as a result of a preexisting neural code. (Author/GR)
Descriptors: Behavior Development, Developmental Psychology, Developmental Stages, Infant Behavior
Developmental Biodynamics: Brain, Body, Behavior Connections.
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Lockman, Jeffrey J.; Thelen, Esther – Child Development, 1993
Advances in the neurosciences, biomechanics, and behavior sciences, along with attempts to integrate theories and findings across these disciplines, have led to a renewed interest in the study of motor development. Considers the contributions that have led to the reinvigoration of this field of study and its new interdisciplinary outlook. (MDM)
Descriptors: Behavioral Sciences, Biomechanics, Child Development, Interdisciplinary Approach
Motor Development: A New Synthesis.
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Thelen, Esther – American Psychologist, 1995
Discusses the renaissance of motor skill acquisition studies that are affording new insights into the processes by which infants and children learn to control their bodies. The article explains how studies are now focusing less on how children perform and more on how the components cooperate to produce stability or engender change, thus making…
Descriptors: Biomechanics, Child Behavior, Child Development, Learning Processes
A Dynamic Systems Approach to the Development of Cognition and Action.
Thelen, Esther; Smith, Linda B. – 1994
This book presents a comprehensive and detailed theory of early human development based on the principles of dynamic systems theory. It raises fundamental questions about prevailing assumptions in the field and proposes a new theory of the development of cognition and action, unifying recent advances in dynamic systems theory with current research…
Descriptors: Cognitive Development, Developmental Stages, Individual Development, Learning Processes